Overview
- Dozens of coal miners and family members gathered Tuesday in Washington to demand enforcement of federal limits on respirable crystalline silica in mines.
- The Trump administration has delayed enforcement, declined to defend the rule in court, and petitioned to prevent unions and a lung health group from intervening in the litigation.
- Industry groups, including the National Mining Association and the National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association, are suing to halt the standard, arguing high costs and favoring greater reliance on respirators over ventilation and dust controls.
- MSHA estimated the silica limits would prevent at least 1,067 deaths and 3,746 cases of black lung, a disease increasingly seen in younger miners and affecting about one in five long-tenured miners in central Appalachia.
- Labor groups such as the United Mine Workers of America and the National Black Lung Association are leading the push for implementation as the administration advances coal subsidies and has cited a government shutdown in seeking further court delays.